Why is Columbia suing its own zoning board? It involves a scrapyard and Gills Creek
The city of Columbia is taking its own zoning board to court to appeal a March decision allowing a scrapyard and recycling center on Shop Road.
On March 4, the city Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved a zoning exception to allow American Scrap Iron and Metal to have a scrapyard and recycling center at 2420 Shop Road. But in a rare move, the city has filed suit against the zoning board in circuit court in an effort to have the decision reversed and sent back to the board for reconsideration.
Meanwhile, two local environmental watchdog groups, Congaree Riverkeeper and the Gills Creek Watershed Association, also have filed suit against the board in hopes of having the scrapyard decision reversed. Both of those organizations opposed the approval of the zoning exception for American Scrap Iron in March, citing, among other things, environmental concerns because the property in question is near Gills Creek.
The city filing an appeal against its own zoning board in state court doesn’t happen often. District 3 Councilman Will Brennan said it hasn’t been done since 2013, when there was an issue involving a liquor store.
Councilman Howard Duvall also said the move is rare, but he thought it was warranted in this case.
“The (Board of Zoning Appeals) is a quasi-judiciary body, and so if you have an appeal of a decision from (the Board of Zoning Appeals), it doesn’t go to City Council, like a Planning Commission decision would,” Duvall said. “So the only way you can correct a decision made by the zoning board is to appeal it to court. It is extremely unusual for the city to appeal its own appointed body, but the feeling of the Council was that this decision was a mistake and needed to be corrected.”
American Scrap Iron and Metal also is listed as a defendant in the appeals.
The city filed its case against the zoning board on March 31. In court documents, it alleges that the zoning board has to establish that a number of criteria have been met before issuing a special exception for a property, including whether it will have a “substantial adverse impact on adjoining properties in terms of environmental factors such as noise, lights, glare, vibration, fumes, odors, obstruction of air or light, and litter,” or whether it will create “nuisance conditions detrimental to the public interest,” among other factors.
The city alleges the zoning board failed to make “findings of fact” regarding the various criteria in the case of the scrapyard.
The suit also notes the Shop Road property is in a floodplain overlay district and that, per city code, a city engineer must review applications for a special exception in those areas.
“No such report of the city engineer ... was considered by the BOZA during its hearing of American Scrap’s request for a special exception,” the suit says.
American Scrap Iron has two other locations, including in Cayce and on Fairfield Road. Owner Tim Dickensheets told The State Thursday that he’s frustrated by the suit, and that he plans to take legal action against the city.
“I plan to pursue this and also file an actual monetary suit against the city, 100%,” Dickensheets said. “We did what the city asked and were granted (an exception), and then turned around and it’s being pulled away.”
A pair of affidavits also have been submitted by the city to the court — one from the Columbia Fire Department and another from Richland County’s hazardous waste materials division — with officials noting past issues at American Scrap’s location on Fairfield Road, and testifying that gives them concern about the operation on Shop Road. The affidavits detail, among other things, that the fire department responded to seven fires at the Fairfield Road location since 2016 and that there have been citations related to violating the county’s hazardous materials ordinance.
Dickensheets said he thinks it’s unfair to use things that may have happened at a different American Scrap location against him on Shop Road.
“With a growing company like we have been, yes, we have had some hiccups, for sure,” Dickensheets said. “But we have addressed every one of them, and we are working to comply.”
Environmental concerns are a significant part of why Congaree Riverkeeper and the Gills Creek Watershed Association also have filed suit in appeal of the zoning board’s decision. In their court filing, the waterway advocates note the property is about 400 feet from Gills Creek and is adjacent to a ditch that drains to the creek.
“The site’s location and intended operation in a floodplain area and its proximity to Gills Creek, which flows into the Congaree River, increases the potential for water quality harm, degradation, and contamination,” reads the filing from the environmental watchdogs.
Riverkeeper director Bill Stangler told The State he was worried about the impact on the watershed, and other factors.
“I would say our concern is permitting a scrapyard at that site could impact Gills Creek in water quality, the surrounding properties and the surrounding community,” Stangler said. “It could cause harm to all those things. ... While Congaree Riverkeeper certainly has significant environmental concerns related to this scrapyard issue, it’s also important to note that our organization and mission are best served by a thorough and thoughtful Board of Zoning Appeals.”
In the March 4 meeting, the zoning board was tasked with considering an exception to allow the scrapyard at the Shop Road property, which is zoned for industrial purposes.
The issue of environmental concerns, specifically stormwater runoff, came up in the zoning meeting, with board members saying it wasn’t within their direct discretion, and that stormwater permitting and enforcing typically runs through the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
“I am sensitive to the Gills Creek Watershed Association’s feelings here,” zoning board chairman Gene Dinkins said at the March 4 meeting. “I was a founding member and a vice chairman of the Congaree Riverkeeper organization. I am sensitive to the issues. ... But, I need to point out here, the watershed association’s beef here is not with us. We have nothing to do with stormwater requirements or anything (the environmental groups) are asking for. Our hands are tied.”
Board members also pointed out in the meeting that the property in question is in an industrial area.
“The impact on the surrounding area of this, not counting environmental impact, because that is someone else’s concern, is relevant and it is currently surrounded by industrial uses,” board member Kathryn Fenner said during the meeting. “It is an industrial use being surrounded by industrial uses.”
A review of county records shows that virtually all the properties in the direct vicinity of the Shop Road property, which is near South Beltline Boulevard, are zoned for industrial use.
“It’s even heavier industrial in some places,” Dickensheets said. “It is completely frustrating. How can the city grow? What is the plan for that property in the future, anyways? What do they expect?”
